Gas burner construction



Oct. 1, 1963 1-1. D. SCHRADER 3,105,541

GAS BURNER CONSTRUCTION Filed July 22, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEY 5.

Oct. 1, 1963 H. D. SCHRADER GAS BURNER CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 22, 1960 INVENTOR- BY 0M ,jadlyyiwy fum ATTORNEYS Oct. 1, 1963 Filed July 22, 1960 GAS BURNER CONSTRUCTION H. D. SCHRADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,195,541 GAS BURNER CONSTRUCTEON Harold D. Schrader, Lincoln, Mont., assignor to Suilivan Valve and Engineering Company, Butte, Mont, a corporation of Montana Filed Juiy 22, 1369, Ser. No. 44,589 14 Claims. (Cl. 158-104) This invention relates generally to an improved construction for gas burners of the up-shot radiant type wherein a uniform radiant heating surface is provided and wherein the combustion air is directed in a manner to achieve maximum burner efficiency.

Radiant up-shot gas burners are well known in the prior art as taught by the US. Patent No. 2,367,143 entitled, Gas Burner, which patent issued to the present applicant on January 9, 1945.

While gas burners of the radiant up-shot type have proven to be extremely durable and satisfactory in actual use, the burners have not obtained maximum efiiciency due to the flow of excess air upwardly through void spaces adjacent corners of the radiant burners, and due to the incomplete heating of the corners of the burner radiants. In the known construction adjacent radiant burners were spaced apart, in order to provide passageways for secondary combustion air flow therebetween, by means of outstanding spacer lugs located intermediately in the passageways, which lugs tended to divert upwardly flowing air toward the aforesaid corners of the burner radiants. The corners of the burner radiauts are somewhat darker than the central portions of the radiants, indicating that excess air is flowing through these void spaces at the corners of the radiants which are not blanketed by streams of gas-air mixture, which currents of excess air undesirably cool the corners of the radiants.

Thus the primary object of the present invention is to provide a radiant-type gas burner arrangement having auxiliary radiant means positioned intermediate the adjacent corners of the radiauts for closing or minimizing the aforesaid void spaces and thereby diverting what otherwise would have been excess air into the secondary combustion air flow for admixture with the gaseous fuel-primary air mixture being jetted out from beneath the sides and ends of the burner radiants, and hence to prevent cooling of the corners of the burner refractory radiant elements.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gas burner construction having auxiliary corner radiants arrmged at the corners of the main burner prismatic radiants to present a uniform radiant heating surface, said main burners having diagonally outwardly directed flame jets which impinge upon the surfaces of said corner radiants.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a gas burner arrangement having a plurality of burner units with prismatic radiant heads, and spacer spider means arranged solely at the corners of the burner units for laterally spacing the burner units, said spacer spider means being in lieu of the aforesaid spacer lugs positioned intermediately in the passageways for secondary combustion air, whereby to improve the uniformity of flow of said secondary combustion air and to confine upwardly flowing air into paths in which it will be mixed with fuel gas-primary, air mixture and hence to minimize cooling of the corners of the radiants.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gas burner arrangement having a plurality of venturi burner units provided at their upper ends with prismatic radiant heads made of insulating refractory material, each of said radiant heads having integral lugs extending diagonally outwardly from the corners thereof for mutual cooperation with the lugs of adjacent radiant heads to properly laterally space the burner units without undesirabledeflection of air flow, to block the aforesaid void spaces and to direct the secondary combustion air to achieve maximum burner efficiency.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent from a study of the following specification when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the improved gas burner;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a detailed sectional view of a spacer pin having a prismatic radiant head;

FIG. 4 is a sectional View of the pilot light spacer pin and radiant head;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the spacer radiant head of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a semi-circular spacer radiant;

FIG. 7 is a plan View of a burner assembly embodiment having spacer spider means and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of PEG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a semi-spherical radiant head used with the spacer spider;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a prismatic radiant head used with the spacer spider;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a pilot spacer pin mounted on the spacer spider;

FIG. 12 is a detail plan view of a spacer spider embodiment;

FIGS. 13 and 14 are plan views of two other types of spacer spider embodiments, and FIG. 15 is a sectional view taken along line 1515 of FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a burner head assemblage wherein the spacer lugs are integral with and extend diagonally outwardly from the corners of the radiant heads; and

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken along line 17-47 of FIG. 16.

Referring first more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the gas burner arrangement consists of a plurality of up-shot radiant burners 1 arranged in IOWs between the fire resistant walls 2 of the burner. Each radiant burner 1 is of the type disclosed by the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,367,143 and includes a primary mixing chamber or venturi 3, a sleeve or distribution member 4, and a prismatic radiant head 5 of insulating refractory material supported on the distribution member by means of the cap 8. Fuel gas is fed into the venturi chamber fromthe gas supply lines 6a, 612 through the gas orifices 7, and combustion air is drawn by suction into the lower end of each venturi concentrically about the orifices 7 for mixture with the fuel gas. The upper part of the distribution member 4 flares outwardly and the inner surfaces of the flaring walls are notched or corrugated to form a series of upwardly inclined flame jet outlets when the cap member 8 is seated upon and slightly within the distribution member 4. The sloping surfaces of the radiant heads 5 lie substantially in the inclined plane of the flame jets of adjacent burner heads. The ribs of adjacent distribution members are staggered and the resultant jets follow the paths indicated generally by the broken lines a.

According to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1, each of the burner units 1 has rigidly mounted spacer lugs 10 extending from the corners thereof. The spacer lugs are preferably formed integrally with, and of the same material as that of, the venturi 3'. Mounted upon the lugs 10 are cylindrical spacer pins 11 which support the prismatic corner radiant heads 12 formed from insulating refractory material. Half corner radiant heads 12' are provided at the junctions between the outermost burner units and the furnace side walls 2 as shown in FIG. 1, and quarter corner heads 12" are provided at the furnace corners. It is important to note that at each corner of the burners 1 a diagonally-outwardly-directed flame jet passage 13 (FIG. 1) is provided intermediate the cap 8 and the distribution member 4 for directing flames upon the corner radiant heads 12, 12 and 12''. As shown in FIG. 3, each spacer pin 11 is provided with a positioning projection 14 which fits between the lugs 10 to prevent the spacer pins 11 from rotating out of their proper positions. The spacer lugs and pins serve to properly space the burners 1 laterally of each other to achieve the desired unobstructed secondary combustion air draft between the burners, and also to laterally sup port the burners.

Also mounted upon the diagonally-arranged lugs 14} is the pilot light spacer pin 15 having mounted thereon a pilot radiant head 16 (see FIGS. 1 and 4) formed of insulating refractory material. Pilot light fuel gas is fed by conduit 17 upwardly through the bore of the pilot venturi mixing tube of the spacer pin 15, which has an air inlet at the bottom of the tube, and radially outwardly through the pilot discharge ports 18 in the pilot radiant head 16. The pilot light radiant head 16 is thus of the live type and it is important to note that the orifices 18 are recessed beneath the outer periphery of the pilot radiant head 16 so that the pilot discharge ports will be shielded from falling debris.

While the spacer radiant heads 12, 12' and 12" have been illustrated as having a prismatic configuration in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, it is apparent that the spacer radiant heads may have a semi-circular configuration 29 as shown in FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-11, another embodiment of the invention is disclosed wherein the lugs 10 of FIG. 1 are shortened to support a spaced spider element 39 having four legs 31 arranged at right angles and terminating at their extremities in notches 32 (see FIG. 9). The spiders 39 are supported by their leg portions 31 on the burner head supporting pieces 33 (FIG. 8), and the corners of the burners extend within the notches 32. to stabilize the assemblage and to prevent rotation of the spiders 30 relative to the burners. The spiders have central apertures 3'4 in which are mounted the cylindrical members 35 which carry the refractory corner radiants 36. Half corner radiants 36' are provided intermediate the outermost burner units and the furnace sides, and quarter corner radiants 36 are provided intermediate the burners and the furnace corners.

' Instead of the semi-spherical radiants 36 of FIG. 9, prismatic radiants 37 could be similarly'mounted upon the spiders 3% if desired. In the same manner the pilot light spacer pin 15 could be supported within the central aperture in the spacer spider element 39 as shown in FIG. 11. The pilot spacer pin and radiant serve four purposes: spacing of the burner heads, deflecting air into the flame jets, providing a radiant refractory surface, and providing a pilot light for the assembled burner unit. In the spacer spider embodiment of FIGS. 7-12 the insulating refractory cap of the spacer spider will become radiant from the heat of the combustion chamber to' improve the efliciency of the up-shot radiant gas burner. It should be noted from FIGS. 8 and 11 that the spacer spiders and the elements secured thereto have upward diverging surfaces for deflecting secondary air into the path of flame jets at the sides and ends of the burner heads in the vicinity of the corners thereof. FIG. 12 is a detail plan view of a spacer spider embodiment E of rectangular configuration having a central aperture 34 large enough for the pilot light spacer pin 15' shown in FIGURE 11, and four diagonally outwardly directed legs 31'.

' Referring now to FIGS. 13 and 15, a spacer spider embodiment 49 is shown having a planar upper surface 41 and a lower surface from which extend the downwardlydirected cooling fins 43. The spacer spider 4% is mounted upon the burners in the manner shown in FIG. 8 by the leg portions 44 and serves to prevent the flow of excess air into the combustion chamber. The spider may have a rismatic configuration as shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, or a semi-spherical configuration as shown in FIG. 14. In the spacer spider embodiment of FIGS. 13-15, the provision of spacer pins (corresponding to those of the em- 7 bodiment of FIGS. 7-12) is not required.

Referring finally to the embodiment of FIGS. 16 and 17, if desired the spacer lugs 56 may be formed integrally at the corners of the refractory radiant heads 51 to laterally space the burners the desired distance. The lugs are shaped at their extremities by 99 angled points 52 for mutual interfitted cooperation as illustrated in FIG. 16. 1e refractory lugs are integrally formed during the molding of the refractory radiant heads and consequently this embodiment is less complex and requires less elements upon assembly than the other embodiments utilizing separate spacer spiders or spacer pins.

It should be mentioned that in the embodiments of FIGS. 7-17 it is not necessary to provide the flame jet passages in the corners of the burners (comparable to passages 13 in the embodiment of FIG. 1), although such flame jet passages mi ht be provided if desired.

While in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have illustrated and described the best forms and embodiments of the invention now known to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other changes may be made in the apparatus described without deviating from the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A gas burner arrangement having a plurality of upwardly discharging burner units having rectangular tops and with rectangular refractory heads at and coincidental with their rectangular tops, said burner units being horizontally spaced in rows and columns to form air spaces on all sides of each burner unit and head, said spaces betwmn the rows intersecting the spaces between the columns at the corners of the adjacent burner unit tops,

each burner unit including a venturi tube member having gas and air inlets at its lower end and flame jet outlets all around the periphery of said rectangular head, and removable spacer means at the intersections of said air spaces, adapted for insertion between the corresponding corners of said burner tops for holding said burner units in said spaced relation.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said spacer means comprises horizontal lug elements rigidly extending angularly outwardly from the corners of the burner tops, and auxiliary refractory corner radiant heads mounted upon said lug elements between the corners of said burner tops.

3. Apparatus as-defined in claim 2, and further wherein said burner units have outwardly directed jet passages angularly arranged at the corners thereof for directing jet flames upon the auxiliary corner radiant heads.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said auxiliary corner radiant heads have a prismatic configuration.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said auxiliary corner radiant heads have a semi-spherical configuration.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said spacer means comprises horizontal spacer spiders mounted upon the corners of the burner units.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein said spacer spiders have outwardlyextending legs arranged at right angles to each other, said legs having notches at the extremities thereof into which are fitted the corners of the associated burner units.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said spacer spiders have apertures centrally arranged therein, and further including spacer pins mounted in said spider aper- 5 tures, said spacer pins having auxiliary refractory radiant heads mounted on the upper portion thereof.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said spacer pins have outer peripheries which diverge upwardly and outwardly to direct the upwardly flowing secondary combustion air away from the corners of the burner radiant heads.

10'. Apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein one of said spacer pins is hollow and constitutes a pilot light pin, the associated auxiliary radiant head on said pilot light pin having a recess therein in communication with the bore of the pilot light pin and apertures through which the pilot light flame jets are emitted.

11. Apparatus as defined in claim 10 wherein the pilot light apertures are substantially horizontal, the outlet orifices of said apertures being recessed radially inwardly from the outer periphery of the auxiliary radiant head so that said orifices will be protected against clogging by downwardly falling foreign particles.

12. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said spacer means comprises horizontal lugs integral with and extending angularly outwardly from the corners of the burner tops.

13. Apparatus as defined in claim 12 wherein the burner radiant lugs terminate at their extremities in pointed pontions defined by side surfaces arranged at right angles to each other, so that the lugs of adjacent burner units will coengage in interfitted relation to laterally support the burner units and to divert upwardly directed secondary combustion air away from the corners of the radiant members.

14. Apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said spacer spiders have cooling fins on the lower surfaces thereof.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,103,253 Bennett July 14, 1914 1,199,133 Walsh Sept. 26, 1916 1,379,538 De Silva May 24,1921 1,935,346 Blanchard Nov. 14, 1933 1,945,934 Dollin et al. Feb. 6, 1934 1,983,644 Sonner Dec. 11, 1934 2,186,588 Leonard et a1. Ian. 9, 1940 2,367,143 Schrader Jan. 9, 1945 2,569,388 Reed July 17, 1951 

1. A GAS BURNER ARRANGEMENT HAVING A PLURALITY OF UPWARDLY DISCHARGING BURNER UNITS HAVING RECTANGULAR TOPS AND WITH RECTANGULAR REFRACTORY HEADS AT AND COINCIDENTAL WITH THEIR RECTANGULAR TOPS, SAID BURNER UNITS BEING HORIZONTALLY SPACED IN ROWS AND COLUMNS TO FORM AIR SPACES ON ALL SIDES OF EACH BURNER UNIT AND HEAD, SAID SPACES BETWEEN THE ROWS INTERSECTING THE SPACES BETWEEN THE COLUMNS AT THE CORNERS OF THE ADJACENT BURNER UNIT TOPS, EACH BURNER UNIT INCLUDING A VENTURI TUBE MEMBER HAVING GAS AND AIR INLETS AT ITS LOWER END AND FLAME JET OUTLETS ALL AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID RECTANGULAR HEAD, AND REMOVABLE SPACER MEANS AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF SAID AIR SPACES, ADAPTED FOR INSERTION BETWEEN THE CORRESPONDING CORNERS OF SAID BURNER TOPS FOR HOLDING SAID BURNER UNITS IN SAID SPACED RELATION. 